Shortwave America inquired about IF there will be any shortwave coverage of the wedding and if so, what frequencies the coverage will be heard. A source at DXLD in Northeast England gave the following information: (Direct quote)

It'll be on the BBC WS from 0855-1300
and highlights from 1605-1700

It will be on which ever WS frequencies you might be able to hear at those times. Try these:

"McLaughlin -- a retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel -- was a contractor serving as a flight instructor for Afghan pilots. Licensed since 1972, McLaughlin was a career US military officer. Bob Magnani, K6QXY, told the ARRL that McLaughlin was just in the US a week ago, visiting his family: "His son Adam, KD6POE, works for me. He told me that his dad had been in Afghanistan and Iraq many times over the past few years, most currently serving as a flight instructor.”

Finally, THE long awaited DX Code Of Conduct goes from proposal to reality! There is an update and a FREE PDF E-Book available for CW operators. Maybe IF we get lucky, our fellow amateurs across the world will not have to listen to the mess on the phone bands for long, because someone sooner or later is going to come up with a Phone Band Code Of Conduct for DX operations.

Last, but not least...The final space shuttle mission known to man, STS-134, will take place this coming Friday at 3:47PM Eastern U.S. time. Here is information from MT-Utility World
Shortwave America strongly suggests getting in touch early with the fine group at HF-Monitors, and SpaceCoastComms on Yahoo Groups to get past frequency information and what frequencies are currently active, or expected to be active. The main man to contact is Allan Stern.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Today's offering as a special feature for the 200th article here at Shortwave America is video coverage of the 24th Annual Shortwave Shindig with Keith Perron! David Goren & Richard Cuff were responsible for this great event, so thank you to them!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Slashdot has basic information about this newest invasion of privacy aimed at communication devices we commonly know as "Cellphones", "I-Phones" and "Smartphones". This newest law enforcement gadget is called CellBrite UFED.

The ACLU is quoted on record as saying: "The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program.

ACLU learned that the police had acquired the cell phone scanning devices and in August 2008 filed an official request for records on the program, including logs of how the devices were used. The state police responded by saying they would provide the information only in return for a payment of $544,680. The ACLU found the charge outrageous.
"Law enforcement officers are known, on occasion, to encourage citizens to cooperate if they have nothing to hide," ACLU staff attorney Mark P. Fancher wrote. "No less should be expected of law enforcement, and the Michigan State Police should be willing to assuage concerns that these powerful extraction devices are being used illegally by honoring our requests for cooperation and disclosure."

Thenewspaper.com closes the article with this statement: "The national ACLU is currently suing the Department of Homeland Security for its policy of warrantless electronic searches of laptops and cell phones belonging to people entering the country who are not suspected of committing any crime."

This newest development poses an interesting, yet, odd situation for United States Licensed Radio Amateurs because today's phones can double as an amateur station by way of the use of Echolink and other RF linking software. As a way to avoid Michigan State Police searches of your phone when you are NOT suspected of a crime, Shortwave America UNOFFICIALLY suggests Michigan radio amateurs to have Echolink or other RF LINKING software running at all times while you are in your car or out in public as a way to legitimately, legally, say that your phone is actually an amateur radio transceiver because you are using it as such at the time of contact with the Michigan State Police.

P.R. 91-36 is a good protection in this type of case because it is assumed within reason that your phone, while being used as an amateur station, may possibly have access to public safety, special emergency, or other frequencies. IF MSP were then to search/confiscate the phone in the wrong context (without probable cause) and without a search warrant, they would have presumably violated a FEDERAL ORDER. ONLY the FCC can interfere with amateur radio operations or seize an amateur station pursuant to Part 97 and other Federal Regulations having the same effect / affect as law. General searches are outlawed by fact of your fourth amendment rights. The above IS NOT legal advice and should never be construed as such. This is simply educated thinking within a reasonable scope.

Children Of The Stars is the new documentary in China aimed at educating the public about Autism. For those who may not be aware, April is Autism Awareness Month. The spotlight on Autism this month by China Radio International presents a compassionate, balanced, perspective on multiple aspects of what life is like for the children and their families who live with the unique challenges of Autism. Listen HERE

Autism affects not only millions of children and other people of all ages in China, but also all over the world. Shortwave America would like to ask it's audience to pass this piece on to anyone who may benefit from it. Today's medical professionals do not particularly like making an Autism diagnosis nor do they enjoy the process of working to detect this problem because they openly say that with all of the awareness campaigns, Autism has been over-diagnosed and they are afraid of making a needless diagnosis.

Oftentimes, Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism look alike. Children and even older people with these disorders are oftentimes misdiagnosed with ADD, ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, and a range of Personality Disorders due to the complexity of what Sensory Processing Disorder and Autism are and how they manifest in each person. There is a push developing by large groups of parents and a growing network of medical professionals, social workers, and others to make Sensory Processing Disorder part of the Autism spectrum because of the characteristics these two disorders appear to share with each other when it comes to the specifics of daily routines, communication difficulties, learning challenges, development, and behavior.

The groom to be is actually: William Arthur Philip Louis, born 21 June 1982, William's brother, Harry is actually: Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984

So, we have two kids with two entirely different last names, neither of which run in the immediate family on either side. The "Queen" who is actually nothing more than England's national President and therefore, just another overblown head of state is actually: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, born 21 April 1926 and the father of these kids has the name Charles Philip Arthur George born 14 November 1948 and Diana's name was Diana Frances (Spencer) 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997.

Going back to the first of two original points, the family has been falling apart over a span of several decades due to what would appear to be a morbid need for power over others including the words, thoughts, and movements of the lives of their own family. The fall of the so called "royal family" started early on in England's history when the highest ruling members of the family enacted certain laws (Alluded to in the article linked to above) mandating strict, arcane structure, therefore mixing family relationships with business which separated family from each other in the context of being equals.

Common sense dictates that family cannot be less than equals with each other and also be ranking members of ruling government. These types of family relationships in everyday reality create a chaotic pathology of power seeking, possibly pointing to unstable neuro-psychosocial functioning. The refusal of the family to re-examine arcane laws governing family structure from within in the context of the rank system keeping power only with the family, and to refuse to seriously consider opening up government to a voting public in a system of democracy points to a need to keep skeletons from rattling.

The details of the family & their foibles which have become public knowledge, such details obviously pointing to a myriad of problems within seem to rise to the level of the family having such internal conflict that they could reasonably be expected to be otherwise unable to run a government. All of these details are simply too voluminous to be published here.

All of this being said, it is one thing to hold on to meaningful traditions, but to hold so tightly to arcane conservative schools of thought such as is present with the family is nothing short of self-destructive to themselves and the public. On April 1st, The Bali Times ran an April fool's joke about Elizabeth A. Mary stepping down from her position as a gift to William. In this current day, Elizabeth is attempting to have herself seen as mostly being concerned about the logistics of William's wedding plans. Those of us who have been around long enough to witness the many catastrophies of this family know well that this is Elizabeth being the opinionated, selfish, stuffy old bag she has always been.

If William were smart, he would have already told her to mind her own business and he would have paid for the wedding on his own and done other things to provide for Kate's comfort. The family has always suffered from a need for constant attention which gives the impression that they suffer from an unstable self-image and the attention they get becomes their coping mechanism in the place of more practical, healthier methods of coping with family & professional stresses.

Other than some minor changes in the way some things have traditionally been done, we should expect to see the same old pomp & arrogance that has become the hallmark of all other family events.

For those who are interested, this is a partial quote from the Official Media Release by the Radio Heritage Foundation:

"Radio was still a teenager when called up for active duty in 1939 with the
outbreak of World War II but had moved into respectable middle age by 1970
when the Vietnam War was raging says the Radio Heritage Foundation in the
latest feature at website www.radioheritage.com.

Released to remember ANZAC Day on April 25 2011, this new feature looks at
how Australian and New Zealandmilitary forces took radio along with them on
their journey to battlefields as far flung as the Middle East, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, South East Asia, the Pacific, and even within Australia's Northern
Territory.

"Fighting Voices from Downunder' visits the extensive ABC Radio facilities
at Gaza in Palestine, RAAF Madang 'The Voice of the Islands', 5DR Darwin,
9AF Labuan in the Straits Settlements, AKAA Yamaguchi 'Voice of the 2NZEF',
WLKS Kure, Radio Commonwealth near the North Korean border, RAAF Butterworth
and AFR Vung Tau.

This new feature places ANZAC Radio into context with US Armed ForcesRadio
networks in the Asia and Pacific region, and British Forces Broadcasting and Radio SEAC services."

Experimenting with digital modes is always fun & exciting! For this article today, Digital Master 780 was used to copy the W1AW CW (Morse Code) bulletin from 0330Z to 0350Z. Given the poor propagation, Digital Master really did an outstanding job!

The W1AW bulletin was copied on 3581.10Khz. Note the mistakes made by Digital Master 780 were really not horrible overall. Clearly, if you are going to use software to copy ANY digital mode, the software will not always copy everything 100%, but DO notice that as the bulletin went on in duration, the copy got better.

N E W GROUP ON WEDNESDAY* APRIL 13, AND YET ANOTHER ON APR* 14. = PA EDICTED SOLAR FLUX VA*UES FROM NMEAA/USIEF FOR THE NEAR IIRM HAVE INCREASID SINCE THE FXRECAST IN THE ARRL LETTER O 5SHURSDAY. PREDICTED SOL TR FLUX IS 125 AND 128 OR APRIL 15 AND 16, 13Ø ON APRIL 17 TO 19, HND WM35 ON APRIL 2*E AND 21 AN5 115 ON APRIL 22 AND 23. PLANETARY A SNDEX FOR THE SAME PERIOD IS PREDI*TED TO BE 5 ON APRI L 15 TO 17, B AND W * EE EI II**TEETEL * EI MAK E I E EWI EE A* E**I TTNT E E I*I * TI
I I SIJE I I ITKETI_TTT TT TT D 1 ON , AND 5 ON APRIL 2Ø TO E7. * ST DE W1AW = GEOPHYSICA5 INSTIHUTE PRRGUE PREDICTS QUIET GEOMAGNETIC C3NDITIONS APRIL 15 TO 17, QUIET TO UNSETTLED APRIL 18, ACTIVE CONDITIONS APRIL *9, AND UNSETTLED CONDITIONS APRIL 2Ø AND 21. = ON APRIL 12 A SOLAR WIND STREAM HIT EARTH, CAUSING AURORA TO BE VISIBLE ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER STATES IN THE U.S. THE HIGH LATITUDE COLLEGE A INDEX HIT 39, AND PLANETARY A INDEX WAS 23. THE NEXT PERIOD OF HIGHER DIEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY PREDICTED BY NOAA/USAF IS APRIL 28 AND 29, WITH A PLANETARY A INDIX OF 12 AND 15. * QST DE W1AW = JON JONES, NØJK OF WICHITA, KANSAS REPORTS, I HEARD OA4TT IN PERU ON 5ØR135 MHZ ON APRIL 4 AT 2Ø2ØZ. KN5 W IN LA HAD OA4TT IN STRONG, WAS WEAB F6IR ME. PERHAPS DIRECT F2 TO THE GUL CG TST THEN WEAK ES ON TO KSE BR5* IS ON MY GREAT CIRBLE BEARING TO PERU. = 3EFF HARTLEY, N8II OF SHEPHERDSTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA REPORTS, T5ERE HAVE BEEN PLENTY OF *CENT PROPAGATION SURPRISES. LAST FRIDAY, APRIL 8, K3SWZ NEAR HARRISBURG, PA REPORTED T ME WEASKING T V9RG ON 1Ø METER SSB AT 2348Z* SUNSET HERE LAS 2343Z. I DIDNT FIND ROBIN, D UT DID WORVEFILST VKNI OF CYCLE 24 ON 1Ø METERS, VK6DU ON SSB AROUND 235ØZ. THERE WERE SEVERAL OTHER EASTERN VKS AND ZLS WITH GOOD SIGNALS ON 1Ø AROUND THE SAME TIME. * QST DE W1AW = I HAVE WORKED 5N7M AROUND 23ØØZ ON 1Ø CW [353.0° 10,813.5km] AND HE IS FREQUENTLY ON 1Ø AND *2 METERS VERY LATE FOR HIM RIGHT AROUND THE BOTTOM TAIS THE BI E DS I HEARD HIM AS LATE AS E2Ø4Z WITH A GOOD SIGIAL 7N 12 METERS LAST NIGHT, THEN HE WENT DOWN TO THE BOTEOM OF 15 CW [312.7° 18,880.1km] AROUND Ø1ØØZT 5M2TT, IN LIBERIA, WAS RUNNING A BIG PILE UP ON 17 METERS SI B AROUT D MOZAØØZ AND WAS WORKED N MONDAY AROUND 233Ø6 TAN BMITH * TE T E METEFS PHXNE AND CW. I5 HAS BEEN REGULARLN T OSIEN TD A IN OUR EVENINGS THIS WEITT AND WSS STILL OPES AT Ø11ØZ AEAST NIGHT. EARLIER IN THE WEEK I HAD A RUN OF JAS ON 15 CW [353.6° 10,260.9km] AROUND 233ØZ WITH SIGNALS U G TO S9, NOT AN EVERY DAY EVENT FOR THIS QTH WITH ABOUT THE POOREST PROP TO JA IN THE USA, WITH A BEAM HEADE NG IS 33Ø. * QST DE W1AW = TO JAPAN, JEFF IS M 5ER 6,8ØØ MILES. FROM K7RA IN SEATTLE IT IS ABOUT 4,9ØØ MILES AT 3ØØ DEGREES. = IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A COMMENT OR HAVE A TIAI FOR OUR READERS, EMAIL THE AUTHOR AT, K7RA AT ARRL.NET. = FOR MORE INFORMATION CONCERNING RADIO PROPAGATION, SEE THE ARRL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE WEB PAGE. A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE NUMBERS USED IN THIS BULLETIN IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON THIS SITE. AN ARCHIVE OF PAST EPROPAGATION BULLETINS IS ALSO AVAILABLE. = MONTHLY PROPAGATION CHARIS BETWEEN FOUR USA REGIONS AND TWELVE OVERSEAS LOCATIONS CAN E FOUND ON THE 41AW WEB SITE. * QST DE W1AW

Hopefully the Shortwave America readers and others curious about radio have enjoyed this piece as much as Shortwave America enjoyed bringing it to you.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Yahoo! News has the story of Judge Zagel warning ousted Illinois Governor , Rod Blagojevich about making comments to the news media because his statements "could be used against him". In the context of media freedom and the freedom of a citizen or citizens to speak with the media, this seems to be the typical Illinois backhanded approach to circuventing the First Amendment, among other constitutional guarantees to freedom of choice when it comes to the right of a person or group of people to decide when and when not to speak.

Illinois has a long history of using coercion & intimidation against those whom it wishes to silence. Blago apparently raised the hairs on the neck of the assigned prosecutor given the prosecutor's conduct in the courtroom in front of th judge when he raised his voice and said he wishes he could put Blago on the stand, supposedly to show what a liar he is.

Shortwave America sees a double standard here: Blago can't air his remarks & opinions to the media under threat of his remarks being used against him & yet, the prosecutor can openly opine in court DURING A STATUS HEARING which is NOT part of the trial itself, that Blagojevich is a liar? HELLO? TALK ABOUT GRANDSTANDING!

There is a reason for a second trial being held and this type of misconduct by prosecutors & judges siding with prosecutors is a big part of it!! The good old boy network is alive & well in Illinois as always!

How about those of us who are full time members of the media getting together in protest to publicly remind the court system and the government of the fact that it is our right to practice reporting voluntary citizen statements and protect the rights of citizens to speak with us!

This judge must really be scared that something is amiss on part of the government in this case because this is not the first time the court has tried to silence Blagojevich by coercion or intimidation in the context of media communications. Through-out this whole circus, it has always been heir apparent that no crime has been committed and that the case has always been about politics. There is just too much wrong with all of this and definitely in the sense that the court does not want anyone speaking to the media nor does the court smile on the media doing what we do....reporting on newsworthy current events.

In Illinois, there have been a long list of criminal cases that have been blown wide open by good reporting and the innocent have been given their lives back, forcing the Illinois Government to re-open or even re-start criminal investigations to search for he or she who is truly guilty. Shortwave America has a message for Judge Zagel: SHUT UP!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

We knew it was just a mater of time until the near-by Chicago burbs in the West / Northwest areas started to become a bunch of gullible followers. Sure there's an advantage to having interoperability, but rumor has it that DesPlaines PD & Park Ridge PD are not JUST going over to Starcom 21, but that they are joining the Cook County Sheriff on the encrypted portion of the system.

Hopefully, the encryption rumor is false because shutting out entire communities from listening in when they know full well that 99% of the community are their eyes & ears in a law abiding fashion is ill advised. Encryption is also horribly expensive and could potentially pose Officer safety hazards when it comes to that radio being their lifeline.

Lets add to the mix that in this faltering economy, people cannot afford to go buy a five hundred dollar receiver even if they were to stay "in the clear". One more factor is that it adds to feelings of mistrust among community members who are otherwise in favor of our police doing their jobs safely & going home alive. Comsec practices dictate that common sense is best....if it's sensitive then use the cell phone! Use your PDT (assuming it's working).

Here's some good questions for everyone including working officers to ask their bosses:

1. Is Cook County going to share encryption keys with DesPlaines & Park Ridge?
If not, then the whole idea of having interoperability with the Sheriff's Dept. is lost!

2. If the new radios lose their encryption keys and an officer gets killed or so severely injured that they are able to draw disability pension...are the Departments and therefore, the taxpayers gonna foot the bill? Is this worth taking that kind of risk?

3. If anything happens, and an Officer or an Officer's family decides to lodge lawsuits...how is that gonna look in regards to public image? Can they or will they sue Motorola or whoever the vendor is? Can that endanger the business contract with the municipality?

4. Did these respective departments do their homework thoroughly? What we know for sure is that these vendors like to sell products and then stop offering support a few years later. That means no more parts for the radios or the repeaters. How do you then maintain the system?

The standard answer beyond interoperability is that someone in a ranking position believes that the "terrorists" are listening. Anyone who knows anything about terrorism and counter-terrorism, street intelligence, and organized crime rising to the level of potential terrorism knows that the best way to watch the police is to be there on the street observing. A smart terrorist, or really, any smart criminal is watching with their eyes. These public predators are using a street network, not radio equipment because they are not smart enough to even know how to use the stuff.

Going to the newest and most expensive radio system in the name of interoperability with the delusion of increased comsec is just a waste of money & resources. Can anyone out here comment on this rumor at all? Has anything been set in stone? Is there a projected switchover date? Has anyone reviewed the contracts to see if any inappropriate business practices have gone unchecked (political cronyism, favors, etc)?

Also see the HFCC Transmission and Programme schedules by Broadcasters and FMOsEach station has their specific schedule listed with a link right next to their station name. Click the link to see the schedule.Here is also a quick listing from Dan Ferguson at NASWA: Dan does lots of work to get this stuff together and Shortwave America is thankful to Dan for sharing this with us via direct e-mail. You can also find this posted at the NASWA site and at the shortwave-radio@yahoogroups.com mail list.

Happy listening everyone! Share what you hear, it really helps the flow of information in the radio community as well as helping your fellow radio enthusiast & fellow radio amateurs to stay informed about all sorts of useful items happening in radio all around us.

Some restructuring news out of the Ukraine that’s bad news for ham radio operators in that nation. This, as the Ukrainian government has affirmed new rules for amateur radio operations that have resulted in spectrum losses on the High Frequency, UHF and microwave bands.

According to an e-mail from Alexander Doshchich, UY0LL, the spectrum withdrawn from access by Ukranian hams includes 10.100 to 10.150 and 14.250 to 14.350 MHz on the HF bands. On UHF an above the losses include 1240 to 1300 MHz, 2300 to 2450 MHz, 5670 to 5850 MHz and numerous other spectrum slots right on up to 248 to 250 GHz.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Keith Perron at PCJ Radio & PCJ Media has assembled a Trasnscription Department specializing in providing public transcripts of the popular Media Network Plus show. You can follow the activities of the new Transcript Department on Twitter @MNP_Transcripts, or you can read updates and other relevant information at the Radio Assignment Desk on Wordpress.The Radio Assignment Desk is the official home of the transcript team.

Keith Perron & Paulette MacQuarrie have chosen an active, visionary, leader who also acts as part of the overall organization allowing them to have their hands free to care for the core duties involved in the production of Media Network Plus.

Ring-fence BBC World Service against Cuts,
say Foreign Affairs Committee

The BBC World Service is of such value to the nation that its income should be ring-fenced against spending cuts, says the Foreign Affairs Committee in its report, released today into the future of the BBC World Service. The report says that the decision to transfer funding responsibility for the BBC World Service from the FCO to the BBC will have major long-term ramifications for the future of the World Service.

The World Service promotes British values across the globe and has a reputation exceeded by none. Despite this, the Service has suffered a disproportionate reduction in its future Grant-in-Aid under the Spending Review settlement, by comparison with that of the ‘core FCO’: allowing for inflation, 16% as against 10% across the four years 2010–11 to 2014–15. High-level discussions between the Government and the BBC about a transfer took place for the first time only nine days before the formal announcement of the change, and the approval of the Foreign Secretary was secured only 48 hours before.

The decision was essentially financial, taken at very short notice, albeit with the full agreement of BBC top management.

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Richard Ottaway MP, says, “The BBC World Service has been described by Kofi Annan as “perhaps Britain’s greatest gift to the world”. The value of the World Service in promoting the UK across the globe, by providing a widely respected and trusted news service, far outweighs its relatively small cost. The recent dramatic events in North Africa and the Middle East have shown that the “soft power” wielded through the World Service could bring even more benefits to the UK in the future than it has in the past, and that to proceed with the planned cuts to the World Service would be a false economy”.

The report says that the decision to reduce World Service spending by 16% during the 2010 spending review period should be reversed, and resources made available for it to continue its operations at roughly the 2010–11 level of staffing and output. If the Service’s funding is reduced in spite of this recommendation, the Committee urges for damage limitation. In particular, the report calls for the World Service to commit itself to longer-term support for an unreduced BBC Hindi and BBC China Mandarin shortwave service, and to providing enhanced resources to BBC Arabic as required by the recent and continuing political developments in the region.

There is a discrepancy between the relatively small amounts of money needed to avoid the most damaging cuts to the World Service and the scale of the Department for International Development Spending Review settlement. Some of the activity of the World Service contributes to the wider aims of DFID and it would be appropriate to consider how an additional small element of the DFID budget might be spent on specific activities and projects of the World Service which are consistent with the terms of the International Development Act 2002. A transfer of just 0.35% of DFID’s resource budget over the next three years would compensate for the proposed 16% reduction in World Service funding. There is no reason why such a transfer should not be made if the political will to carry it out is present.

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Richard Ottaway MP, says, “We do not believe the decision to transfer funding responsibility for the World Service from the FCO to the BBC will make the World Service’s funding more secure. Despite all assurances, this decision could lead to long-term pressure on the World Service budget, with the risk of a gradual diversion of resources to fund other BBC activities. No transfer of funding responsibility for the World Service from the direct FCO Grant-in-Aid to the BBC should take place until satisfactory safeguards have been put in place to prevent any risk of long-term erosion of the World Service’s funding and of Parliament’s right to oversee its work.”

Friday, April 8, 2011

Paul loved to talk! When he was on the air, the air was all his (As in people paid attention)! Although it did happen that Paul would run out of things to talk about, it wasn't always that often. A conversation with him could run for hours on end, but none of us complained because it wasn't ever boring. Paul had other loves in life beyond radio. Railroad, as mentioned in part two of this tribute, was one of those loves. In the photo above, Paul is shown at the Glencoe Metra station during a local bicycle event for which the Northshore Radio Club provided volunteer emergency radio communications support. This author was his assigned partner during this event.

In the photo we see the famous AB9PS portable dual-band 2M / 70cm Yagi antenna Paul made by hand. This antenna used a cut wooden 2 by 4 plank as a boom, PVC pipe, and a run of RG8 coax. Anyone who knew Paul or even spoke with him for long enough would eventually hear some of Paul's love for railroad. He could talk about railroad for lengths of time that would have a person dreaming about crossing the continent by rail while simultaneously yearning to learn U.S. history.

The connection is made to U.S. history because Paul would talk about the old days of railroad. I remember asking Paul about the "whine" for lack of better words of modern Amtrak Genesis engines as they go from a standing position at a station stop to full service. First the engineer gets the "highball" from the line dispatcher, releases the air, and sets the engine into motion. As the train starts moving, you hear a very distinct sort of whirring or whine that goes up in pitch before the engine reaches a decent clip.

For anyone that loves trains, it is the release of the air brakes, the whirring/whining, followed by the K5LA horn blast that makes a great day better! Just as in the photo above, where Paul is getting to enjoy radio AND railroad at the same time, I would hope that he is finally getting to engineer his own train while making radio contacts the entire time AND getting full enjoyment of the greatest music anyone has ever heard.

One of the routines Paul had in the final days of his life, and one of the gifts Paul left all of us with was sharing late evening chats on 442.725+, talking about old re-runs of MASH, and of course we talked about food, meals, anything edible. The photo just above shows the five watt Alinco DJ-596 Paul once used just prior to obtaining a five watt Icom D-Star dual band HT.

The late night group usually consisted of Paul, this author, Jan (pronounced Yahn) - NE2AR, Andy - AB9EW, and whoever else was on the air at the time. Usually, Liam, from Evanston, Il, would chime in when his time allowed. Sitting at the control point until my eyes got heavy and ending the evening having fun with a friend was always the best way to end a late evening. Oh, we can't forget Tom - KC9AZJ (All Zebras Jump)! He became part of the group as time wore on. Tom and Paul often had some good talks about railroad because Tom is also a rail fan.

When we say we had late evenings, late is defined for us as a group as 1AM or after. I almost never held out to the end of the QSO, but there were nights when I would last and Paul would be the first to go followed by me and then Jan. Those nights are already missed.

I remember my first time meeting Paul. We went to Quiznos by the CTA Red line station. We both had a sub and Paul had his coffee. We talked about music, radio, and railroad. Paul did most of the talking when it came to the technical / historical stuff of music and railroad, but he also told some of his famous jokes. We talked about life, family, and classic TV.

Thank you Paul, for the years of memories. Thanks for being a friend, for just being you. Although it hurts to see you leave us, it would hurt more to see you suffer. What always earned my respect the most was that you never let your limitations take away your independence nor your dignity. You were never proud in an arrogant way, never did I see selfishness, never did I see contempt, and never did I see you hate.

The key now may be silent, the control point without your presence, but your voice will keep on being heard and your memory alive. With great gratitude for having had you on this earth, and all the memories to treasure....for what you were to each of us, rest peacefully dear Paul and happy seventy three.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

One of the things Paul was well known for was his tales of the Church, his love for traditional types of music, and especially his volunteer work at WFMT radio - Chicago's classic radio. In the photo pictured above, we see Paul enjoying an educational lecture given by a Senior Engineer of WFMT Radio during a special presentation given for the North Shore Radio Club. Besides NSRC, Paul was also a well known and well liked member of W9LYA - The Chicago Metro Amateur Radio Club.

This author has attended a few of the MAC meetings with Paul in the past, which always proved to be fun. Paul was a certified genius, and as such, was inducted into Chicago Area MENSA. Prior to holding the United States Federal Communications Commission assigning him the Extra Class callsign AB9PS, Paul held the call KB9ZIO as a General Class Operator.

Paul would often speak of his family's heritage, and could often be heard recounting the story of the time someone he knew who was a religious man and also a conscientious objector due to reasons of faith, being drafted into the U.S. Armed Services long ago. This person thought that the Amish were exempt from being drafted and Paul would always say "But someone forgot to tell Congress about that!"

If this author ever found anything unique about Paul, it was that he never ever was heard or observed speaking badly about anyone even if he had the chance to do so. There would be times when Paul and myself would be sitting around watching TV and he would say something out of nowhere, and it was always either something funny or something that made you think because it would always be something most people never thought about or even noticed. Paul had a keen sense of observation.

Paul's love for logic seemed to fuel his interest in electronics and communications, or was it the other way around? It was hard to tell sometimes, but either way, Paul knew what he was doing. My mother once said "No man is ever so tall as when he stoops to help a child." Paul has been known to spend many hours on the phone with this author's daughter helping her with difficult & confusing algebra problems, never asking for anything in return.

No matter what else Paul did in life, you could find him thinking about something. Paul was known as a deep thinker who was never afraid to look for answers. Conversations with Paul could get so intense as to leave a person speechless, and deep in their own thoughts. This author always had a reverent and playful nickname for Paul - "wise old owl".

Part 3 of this tribute to Paul Streeter will continue tomorrow. Thank you to everyone for allowing this publication to share the celebration of Paul's life with you.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Just this past Tuesday, the world lost a great man and the circle of radio amateurs around the world lost a great member of its fraternity. Paul Streeter - AB9PS became a silent key (SK) in a local Chicago hospital after fighting with medical problems.

Paul made a list of contributions and achievements to amateur radio, most recently serving as a Net Control Operator for Northern Cook County Skywarn during severe weather events. Behind the scenes, Paul was a warm, caring, easygoing, man. He was the kind of person who appreciated everyone around him, and was always the definition of what a friend should be.

You always knew Paul on the air even without his callsign because of his distinctive voice. That voice was welcoming and friendly, fun, kind, and full of humor. Paul liked to tell jokes and laugh, he could make anyone laugh to be honest. Many hours and days were spent with Paul, all of them were pleasantly memorable.

Shortwave America will dedicate the next few entries to Paul's memory. Rest peacefully, Paul, you are never forgotten.